Sustainable Shopping: Farmers Market Pros and Cons
Farmers market season
It's truly the most wonderful time of the year: delicious foods, nice vibes and that summa' sun. Lots of peeps (including me) love farmers markets, and for good reason, but not everything about the FM is sunshine and apricots. In this post I'll walk you through some pros and cons of farmers markets.
Pros
You can talk to farmers
You don’t have to become BFFs, but being able to ask farmers questions about their crops or animals can be v helpful if you're trying to eat more sustainably. You can ask where their farm is, if their farm is organic or uses precision farming, or if they have any cool new sustainability projects.
Farmers are experts, so they can give you tips about living sustainably, farming or even making your own garden or greenhouse. They're in the business of the environment, so they’ll likely have answers to all your questions.
Produce is usually local
Locally grown food at the farmers market doesn’t need to travel far to get there, which means it doesn’t release as many grody GHGs during travel. Not all farmers at the farmers market sell locally grown crops (see the cons below for the juicy deets), but buying any produce from local farmers can help you support your local economy and get to know the people who produce food in your area.
Produce is Supes fresh
If the produce is local it’s most likely fresher than the stuff you’ll find at Target or Trader Joes. A lot of food at grocery stores was picked when mega under-ripe and then ripened off the vine while traveling a million miles to get to you. Ever eaten a pale pink tomato that tastes like air? Yep, that’s why. At the farmers market, the produce can be picked when it’s actually ripe and brought to the market shortly after, so you're sure to get the freshest stuff.
Artisan goods all in one place
You can get a ton of dope stuff at farmers markets that you would normally have to store hop to get. Rather than having to go to the fancy cheese store, the bakery and the farm stand, you can get it all in one trip to the farmers market. This saves on GHG emissions from travel and is just p dang convenient.
Cons
Farms might not be local
Just because something is at the farmers market doesn’t mean it was grown locally. Some farmers at the market source produce from farms that are supes far away to attract more consumers with their unique selection. This could be causing unnecessary release of GHGs during travel, and could mean that the non-local produce was picked before it was ripe.
Some farmers at the market might have their own produce intermixed with non-local produce. This could make it hard to tell which foods were grown locally and which were not. If you see non-seasonal goodies at a stand, you can guess that that farm sources from non-local farms. If you’re not sure where the food was grown, just ask the farmer. Don’t try to shame them or be rude, obvi, but just ask nicely where the produce was grown. If those peaches weren’t grown within the few states surrounding you, maybe you should pass on them.
Farms might not be eco in any way
Maybe the farm uses pesticides with reckless abandon. Maybe they till like crazy. Maybe they let their cattle overgraze. Just because it’s at the farmers market doesn’t mean it was grown or produced sustainably.
That doesn’t mean you should be trying to do master detective work to bust the farmers. The farmers are most likely trying to be as sustainable as they can. They make their living through having a healthy environment, so it makes sense for them to take care of the planet. However, there could be a bad egg in the mix, so just ask the farmer about his sustainability efforts or look up the farm online.